OLD FRIENDS, NEW IDEA: GREAT LAKES COLLECTIVE
VIKI LORRAINE
THURSDAY JANUARY 26th, 2012
Sitting in a riverside restaurant in Lansing’s historic Old Town, I watched Nick Berry, Adam Klein and Rich Whitman do business. Questions were put on the table, followed by animated conversation, the cacophony seeming to fuel their creative energy.
It’s the same energy that has helped this trio build the The Great Lakes Collective. Launched in December of 2010, the Collective reaches out to local musicians, or ones with ties to the Great Lakes area. “Our job is to handle the business aspect of things, so bands can do their work,” said Berry. “We help them with everything from recording budgets, printing budgets, local bookings, promotion, goal setting, and even visioning. We do the things that allow the band to focus on their creativity.”
“We’re here to help musicians as musicians, as fathers and mothers, as families,” said Berry. “Sure, we want to be able to make a living doing this, but we want to help others make a living too. We won’t do anything unless it helps both parties.”
While the business partners have other day gigs, all have experience in the music business. Whitman and Klein have both played in bands. Klein and Berry both worked on the development of the Lansing Underground, a venue for musicians housed in the basement of a church. “It played a big role in developing the music scene here,” said Berry. Nick Berry, who grew up in the Greater Lansing area, also learned the trade in Nashville, taking on everything from tour managing to lighting to driving the tour bus.
Berry, the Collective’s founder and CEO describes himself as the behind the scenes guy. Klein, the group’s bookkeeper also offers a strong background in online promotion. Whitman, whom Berry calls their jack-of-all-trades, does booking, talent buying, and the group’s website. He also owns his own publishing company.
“We originally had categories that seemed to identify each of our roles, but, overtime, it has evolved,” said Berry. “How we do it doesn’t seem logical sometimes, but it works. We don’t really have a standard list of things we do. We use all of each other’s networks to help the bands.”
The Great Lakes Collective works with all types of musicians. “We didn’t want to get stuck in just one genre,” said Berry. “As long as it’s good, it goes. We’re really trying to develop something for younger musicians, to have a place where they can come and create an identity.”
“There’s so much opportunity here in Lansing, so much growth happening,” said Berry. “We’re a capital city, but we need to earn our stars.” Berry sees a cultural transition going on, now that GM is moving out, and a city that has the potential to be a cultural arts center. “I’m really excited to be a part of that.”
Berry’s entrepreneurial spirit is also reflected in his work at Inspired Green, a home performance contracting and consulting firm which partners with utility companies to provide energy assessments and retrofits to homeowners. “I do a bit of everything,” said Berry. “Denny Duchene, the owner, has run me through every position in the company. He’s a great teacher and mentor. I learned about thinking in a collective mindset from him.” A mindset that Berry brought to the Great Lakes Collective.
The Great Lakes Collective is currently working with 6 bands. Elliot Street Lunatic (space rock) is releasing a CD on January 27th, Doug Mains and the City Folk (folk) is releasing another CD in February 18th, Of Virtue (melodic hard core) recently released the album Heart Sounds, Brave Youth (rock and roll) is getting ready to hit the studio, Dan Gleason (alternative progressive rock) is working on a solo project, and Vanity, Oh Vanity (indie throw-back pop) a group the collective helped form is also studio-bound.
Although the Collective works with bands outside of area, their heart is in Michigan. “We genuinely care about the Lansing music scene,” said Berry. “We’re hoping to build a big huge family,” added Whitman.
And for the future…there’s talk of an-all age venue, a studio of their own, a video company, even a publishing company. “We want to help artists of every form,” said Berry. “We set up Great Lakes Collective to never stop growing.”
